Galina Petrovna’s Three-Legged Dog Story. Andrea Bennett
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The Borough Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
Copyright © Andrea Bennett 2015
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
Cover illustration by Barry Falls
Andrea Bennett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008108380
Ebook Edition © 2015 ISBN: 9780008108397
Version: 2015-06-17
For my family, especially Louis
In the 1990s, there was a three-legged dog called Boroda, who wore no collar and lived in Azov with an old Russian lady who worked hard on her dacha.
However, everything else in this book, while inspired by my memories of the people and geography of Russia, is a work of fiction, and should be treated as such.
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Author’s Note
Glossary
1. A Typical Monday Afternoon
2. The Azov House of Culture Elderly Club
3. Mitya the Exterminator
4. A Chase
5. A Visit
6. The Plan
7. Grigory Mikhailovich
8. A Train Ride
9. A Rescue
10. Guests
11. A Date with Mitya
12. A Letter from Vasya
13. Mitya’s Angel
14. The Ministry
15. Deep in the SIZO
16. A Minor Triumph
17. The Cheese Mistress
18. The Third Way
19. A Dog’s Life
20. The Return
21. Of Butterflies, Dogs and Men
22. Rov Avia
23. Vasya’s Pussy
24. The Sunshine SIZO
25. Chickens Roost
26. The End of the Beginning
27. The End
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Publisher
Baba – short for babushka
Babushka – Granny, often used as a term of address of any elderly woman
Blin – a mild substitute exclamation, like “flip!”
Boroda – beard, and pronounced barada
Dacha – wooden country residence, ranging from a hut to a mansion
Dedya – Grandad, often used as a term of address of any elderly man
Duma – the Russian parliament
KAMAZ – a make of Russian truck
Kasha – porridge
Kefir – a fermented milk drink
Kroota – cool
Kvass – a fermented non-alcoholic drink made from rye bread
Laika – the stray dog sent in to orbit by the USSR in 1957
Lapochka – sweetie, term of endearment based on the word for paw, and used for small children and dogs
Lubyanka – HQ of the KGB in central Moscow
NKVD – the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs, or secret police (forerunner of KGB)
Perestroika – a political movement for reformation of the Communist Party during the 1980s
Sharik – little ball, it is a common dog’s name in Russia
SIZO – stands for Sledstvenny Izolyator, and is a remand prison
Skoraya – ambulance
Spetznaz – Russian Special Forces
Svoloch – bastard, git
Vareniki – small stuffed dumplings
Vint – a domestically produced stimulant drug, usually injected
‘Hey! Goryoun